#ThisMessageMatters -- Join Others in Solidarity
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., June 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- It's nearing close to a month of widespread ramped up protesting and activism for the Black Lives Matter movement. It has included participation in more than 1,000 cities nationwide. If you feel like your voice is getting lost in the crowded social and political climate — or if you don't have a clear understanding of why it's all happening — there's help.
#ThisMessageMatters was created for everyone. Grova Creative, a black-owned creative marketing agency has launched the website — thismessagematters.com — where people can decide how they would like to participate in the fight against the social injustice Black people are facing today.
You can use this website to educate yourself or others or find ways to get involved. You can download free materials like signs to bring to protests or images for social media. If you'd prefer to support the cause but stay in the background, there's a list of organizations you can donate to.
#ThisMessageMatters is an ongoing project conceived from a place of motivation and determination to help make forward steps towards supporting and understanding the Black community. The idea is that there are countless ways in which anyone can contribute to solidarity and allyship. With educating ourselves, we can work to reduce the number of cases of unjust treatments toward Black individuals. Since George Floyd's death, stories and incidents of racial violence and injustice have resurfaced everywhere. This behavior cannot continue, and it is up to us, as people, to prevent it from doing so.
Many people find themselves at a standstill during movements of this magnitude, feeling helpless because they don't know how to offer their support. It's also easy to feel as though one human being's actions won't make a difference, but multiply that population tenfold, and it will make a world of difference. #ThisMessageMatters website is unique because it provides a wide range of opportunities, so people can find what's right for them to join the conversations about race. If you prefer to speak up in other ways, the website offers free artwork where you can sport your message on a poster, t-shirt, etc. By promoting an emblem, or even a few words surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, you nonverbally signal to those around you that you stand with them. Residents in Tallahassee, Florida, have displayed the free artwork onto their front lawns to demonstrate to their neighbors and passersby that they stand alongside the Black community.
The Black Lives Matter movement has faced significant polarization in certain aspects. Hence, #ThisMessageMatters mission is to cultivate a community that is as inclusive and inviting as possible. This website is not affiliated with any particular group so that resources can be included from a variety of assets.
The Grova Creative team is so proud of the positive feedback and traction this initiative has gained within a few weeks of launch. In her local op-ed, Grova Creative owner Giavona Williams expanded upon her personal motivation to start #ThisMessageMatters, which detailed her early experiences with racism from a young age. She candidly wrote, "Many factors inspired me to start this project. The first is my personal history. It is why I realized I could no longer stay on the sidelines [...] I have been followed around in stores because the owners assumed I would steal something. My college roommate admitted she didn't want to live with a Black person in the dorms and requested to move out. Her request was accepted. The list, unfortunately, goes on. This project is my way of doing more for the movement, so others won't have to experience what I have."
The goal is that with each visitor engaging with the website, we come closer to liberty for the Black community and the betterment of society. "This project is meant to empower us all, not to divide us further," Grova Creative owner Giavona Williams said.
The topic of Black Lives Matter can be emotionally charged — even polarizing. No matter your opinion, use these resources to learn more about the history of Black people and current events.
We hope you will use #ThisMessageMatters as a tool to help join conversations about Black lives as injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Media Contact: Giavona Williams
[email protected]
850-296-8363
SOURCE Grova Creative
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